Harry Potter and the Mage Powers
by HPotterbolt
Summary: Harry tries to deal with the events of OotP that left him depressed and tired. However, new adventures lie before him as he discovers the wonders of Evolutio Veneficii and maybe a little romance along the way. Will Harry be able to stop Voldemort's latest
1. Chapter 1 Never Again

Harry Potter and the Mage Powers

Chapter 1 – Never Again

"_It shall wait, over the ages if necessary, for him. It will sleep in its broken existence until then…"_

All was calm on Privet Drive. It was two o'clock in the morning and a full moon shone brightly over the horizon, and not a sound could be heard on the street. Immaculate lawns, gleaming cars, neat driveways… It was the very image of a perfect suburban neighbourhood and all the inhabitants were currently enjoying their well-earned sleep. All of them, that is, except for one: a bespectacled young man lying on his bed at number four, twirling a long piece of wood between his fingers, deep in thought. However, this was no ordinary piece of wood. It happened to be a magic wand, made from holly and measuring 11 inches. Harry Potter, a young wizard fresh from his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, dared not go to sleep.

Harry's brain was occupied by thoughts of the veil through which Sirius Black had fallen in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. He couldn't quite erase the image of Sirius' face as he fell, the look of utter surprise on his godfather's face as he fell to a curse issued by his own cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. Although most of the country still believed Sirius Black to be a hardened criminal, Harry knew better. He missed his godfather more than anything in this world and it was due to this that he could not fall asleep. He'd rather be exhausted than go through the nightmares again.

Harry Potter and his friends from school had gone to the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius. He had been tricked into thinking Sirius was in mortal danger by Lord Voldemort, the most evil Dark Wizard, who had wanted Harry to retrieve the record of a prophecy connecting the two of them. This prophecy had been destroyed in the following battle between the Death Eaters and Harry and his friends. Sirius and other members of the Order of the Phoenix had arrived in time to save them, but Sirius had been killed and now Harry felt guilty…

_If only I had not been fooled by Voldemort… If only I had continued with Occlumency… _These thoughts plagued Harry for what seemed the umpteenth time.

So far, summer at the Dursleys' was proving to be better than any preceding time at his aunt's house. Ever since the threat issued by Moody, Arthur Weasley and the others, his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia gave him an impressive amount of freedom around the house. They more or less ignored him except over trivial matters such as chores, and otherwise he was free to do as he pleased. This suited Harry just fine, as he had too much to brood upon and did not want to be bothered. Dudley also kept his distance from him, scared that this Harry (for Harry knew he seemed utterly changed) wouldn't be afraid to use magic on him if he were so inclined.

As it was, Harry spent his time either doing his homework or going over last year's events. He found, however, that he could not truly concentrate on his homework, as the death of Sirius and his role in it loomed ever large over Harry's conscience. Sirius had been his only family for a while. True, he was part of the Weasleys, and Ron and Hermione were surely closer to him than his "real" family… But Sirius was really the only father figure he'd had in his life that he could remember and relate to.

Losing him had proven to be a huge blow to Harry's morale. So, nothing could be more normal than the feelings Harry was experiencing.

Hedwig, Harry's female snowy owl, was currently delivering another reassuring letter to the Order that nothing at Privet Drive was amiss and that his aunt and uncle were being sufficiently decent to him. Harry missed Hedwig, for in these moments of deep thought it was really soothing for him to hear Hedwig's comforting hoots and be able to pet her. His owl was the only thing on which he could pour affection when away from his friends, and without her his room seemed to turn even more sombre. It was as if he was locked away, cut off from everything he loved and from the world he belonged to.

He could no longer blame Dumbledore. Harry understood now, after their talk, why he must stay at the Dursleys'. He had finally been told the reason for his parents' death and his scar, but it still didn't make him feel any better. Also, Harry had just realized at the end of last term that Dumbledore was a very powerful wizard but still human, and was trying to come to terms with that realization. He was very used to thinking of Dumbledore as the all-knowing wizard that could solve anything… Nonetheless, even if Harry had been very angry to begin with, the anger at the old headmaster had been slowly receding. He had been able to hear the emotions behind Dumbledore's words after the events at the Ministry, even through his rage. Dumbledore had come to regard him as a grandson of sorts, something that made Harry feel somewhat touched. But yet, he missed his godfather.

"Stop it, Potter!" he muttered to himself. He hated feeling so helpless, so alone… He knew also that he should really start working on his training. He was sure, after their last encounter, that if he was to defeat and vanquish Lord Voldemort, as the Prophecy stated, he would need loads of training. Maybe more research at the library for more spells, some endurance training… Honing his reflexes would be great for a real battle too.

Harry stood and slowly stretched. He had taken to completing a couple of sets of both sit ups and push ups, which were starting to show some results on his skinny frame. Surely, if he followed the routines and kept increasing their duration, he should be in a better shape at the start of the school term. He'd grown a bit the last month, gaining a couple of inches, but what made him feel best was the fact that he looked a little broader around the shoulders. He was still a skinny boy, but hopefully no longer a push over. He usually only did his exercises in the mornings, but he figured he could use the strain right now to push his mind into an exhausted state to invite sleep. After about a couple of sets, the physical exhaustion he felt was enough to drive away the thoughts that tortured his mind. His muscles ached dully but he managed to fall asleep over the pain…

"HARRY POTTER!"

Harry awoke with a start at his uncle's yells and massive fists pounding the door to his bedroom. He was grateful he had slept well and could not remember any nightmares that had disturbed him. He did feel slightly queasy and sweaty, but these feelings were very faint, and he dismissed them quickly… However, when he looked at his watch, his heart almost skipped a beat. It was well past noon and on its way to one in the afternoon! No wonder his uncle was pounding like mad at the door.

"Coming, Uncle Vernon!" Harry said as he jumped quickly out of bed and ran to open the door, feeling quite refreshed.

Uncle Vernon was a large man who looked as if his neck had been cut off and his head simply reattached to the rest of his body. He stood before Harry, his face turned purple as most of the times when he spoke to his nephew. Seething, his uncle just stared at him for a few moments, as if he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he wouldn't be able to control his rage.

"BOY! What do you think sleeping for so long? How did you lock the door from the inside? We will have no laziness in this house! Now explain yourself!" Vernon Dursley was a man who did not take kindly to lying about.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon," said Harry, trying to defuse the situation by apologising. "I was just very tired and thus I must have slept through aunt Petunia's calls in the morning…"

"What's this nonsense? You overslept? No one oversleeps for nearly two days, boy! Where were you? And what did you do to your room? Light kept coming from your room these two days! Thank God the curtains to your room are thick; I can't imagine people seeing what you were doing here!" Uncle Vernon was literally spitting with fury. He had always detested Harry, apparently for the crime of being imposed on the Dursley household as a baby.

"What do you mean two days? What day is it today?" Harry was confused. _Two days?_ The thought was staggering.

"The last we saw of you was Monday evening. Now it's Wednesday in the afternoon. Care to explain? I shall not have those _freaks_ you call friends come to this house saying I refused to feed you for two days in a row. I will not be threatened in my own house by a bunch of weirdoes on the whim of a 15 year old brat!"

"Wednesday? Today is Wednesday? But how can that be possible? I know I can't have slept that much!" Harry was now panicking. Was that why he hadn't remembered any dreams? Sure, he had been tired, since the nightmares had not let him have a decent night of sleep in the last month… But to actually sleep two whole days was too much! _It can't be,_ Harry pondered. But then, as he looked around his room in a daze at confronting such thoughts, he saw Hedwig with a letter waiting patiently at the top of her cage, staring at him from her huge, brown eyes that conveyed worry.

Just as he was about to go to her and remove her letter, a loud _pop_ alerted him to a wizard apparating at the top of the stairs. Quick as a cat, Harry launched himself at his bed to remove his wand, which he kept under his pillow while he slept. Uncle Vernon appeared to freeze suddenly while looking out Harry's room into the hallway. Harry heard the unmistakeable sounds of a cloak swishing and pointed his wand at the door to his room, waiting for whoever appeared. It was then that he heard a voice.

"If I had no conscience I would gladly turn him into what he really is: A worthless pile of dung!"

At these words Harry began to calm himself, even though he warily kept his wand at the ready. As the pretend Moody had repeated constantly for a year, he was constantly on the watch, ready for any surprise. However, the voice had sounded just like that of Remus Lupin, his old Hogwarts professor. As these thoughts crossed his mind, Harry saw a head peek around the door: the unmistakeable face of Remus Lupin.

"Hello, Harry! How are you today?" Remus Lupin was a wizard with a shabby appearance to himself due to the always tattered condition of his robes (caused by the lack of gold to buy new ones). He looked at the young wizard standing in his room and did not appear to be bothered by the wand pointing straight at his forehead.

"It's OK, Harry. It's me, Remus. I taught you the Patronus Charm in third year, helped create a certain _map_ of Hogwarts, and your Patronus takes your father's animagus form."

"Remus! What are you doing here? What did you do to my uncle? What…" Harry slowly lowered his wand.

"Easy Harry. Take it slow. I'm here because there has been some strange activity detected at your house for the last two days. It didn't set off the underage magic alarms in the Ministry, but it did interfere with Dumbledore's magic detection wards. They are a mite more sensitive than the ones the Ministry uses. We wondered if you had noticed anything weird going on around here since Monday evening."

"Magic detection wards? I didn't know there were those kinds of wards in the house? How come Dumbledore did not notice Dobby in my second year?"

"They're a recent addition, put in place just before you came here," explained Remus, "to alert us of any unexpected magic signatures around your house. Dumbledore thought they'd serve as a nice alarm system to avoid things like your Aunt Marge's blowing-up incident. Dumbledore was worried that in your…grief, you'd find it harder to control your emotions. The wards are set up to trigger an alarm in Dumbledore's office when your magic starts to flare up just prior to uncontrolled magic."

"Wow… I did not know that was possible!" exclaimed Harry.

"Smart man, Dumbledore… That's a spell of his creation. The Ministry is just able to detect magic once it has happened. Albus, however, can be alerted just before you do that magic. We don't want to have any problems with the Ministry regarding you, even if they are on our side." Remus looked thoughtfully at Harry, taking in the apparent distress in Harry's eyes. "Don't worry; the alarm didn't go off. But the wards constantly monitor the magical levels in the house at all and there was a strange reading during the past two nights… Dumbledore has been busy lately with business for the Order, checking some things at the Ministry, so he failed to review the status of the wards these past two days. He thought if something was wrong, the alarms would sound. However, upon checking the readings this morning, he noticed the abnormal signature and ordered me and Tonks here."

"Tonks is here? Where is she? I didn't hear her in the house," said Harry.

At this, Remus chuckled. "Well, yes. You know how clumsy she is… We decided I would Apparate first and put your family in a Freeze-frame spell. It makes them freeze in time until they are released, they'll think nothing happened. After I did that I was supposed to let her know and she would apparate. If you'll allow me…" With this, Remus grabbed a small red stone from a pocket in his robe and tapped it with his wand. As soon as he did this, there was a small crash downstairs, and after a few minutes Tonks walked into his room.

Tonks, a young Auror with Metamorphmagus powers, could look any way she wanted. At the moment, she appeared as a thin blonde woman. Her hair reached to her waist and the ends were coloured bright green.

"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks winked at him. "Sorry for the mess downstairs, I already cleaned and repaired the broken vase."

"So, Harry. About the weird signature, do you know anything that might have caused it?" Remus looked at Harry, concern etched into the deep lines covering his face. His werewolf condition, added to the stress of the war and losing his best friend, had caused him to age quite prematurely.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to tell you. It was what I was discussing with my Uncle. I remember going to sleep on Monday, and then nothing until right now, when my Uncle Vernon woke me." Harry saw the worry deepening in Lupin's face. "I went to sleep tired and apparently just slept through all Tuesday and part of today. Uncle Vernon said there was light pulsating from my room all through this time. Do you know what could have happened?" Harry asked his professor.

But it was Tonks who spoke up first. "Light pulsating from your room? And you were asleep, you say? Do you remember any dreams?"

"No."

Tonks placed her hand on Harry's forehead and a weird look came over her face.

"Remus," she said, turning to the professor, "we need to take him to Dumbledore. Now."

"Why, Tonks? What's going on? Do you…" began Harry.

"Don't say anything more. I think I know what's going on… It's not safe here. Dumbledore will explain. Remus, if you'd help me pack?"

"Of course Tonks!" With a couple of waves from both their wands, all of Harry's possessions were once more packed and ready for moving.

"You'll have to wait here for a second Harry. I'll go to Dumbledore for a Portkey, there's no time to assemble a guard and make the trip by broom. Remus, stay here and unfreeze the Dursleys while I go. Explain to them that Harry is leaving for the rest of the summer. I'll be back as soon as possible." Tonks, having said this, Apparated away.

"How have you been, Professor?" Harry asked, trying to pass the time until Tonks came back. However, after asking this Harry was assaulted by the memories of Sirius and his nightmares.

Harry looked up at Remus, the emotions welling up inside him. He realized that the man in front of him was standing against the same monster: Death. Both felt Sirius' death in the same manner, as he was family in more ways than one to them.

"Professor, I'm sorry… I killed Sirius! I did not think! I am sorry, please forgive me. I miss him; I am such a fool at not realizing it could be a trap! I should have listened to Hermione, I should have…" Harry stopped as he saw Remus' hand raise and cut him off.

"Harry, calm down. It wasn't your fault. Sirius died because of Voldemort. Nothing more, nothing else. He did what he felt was necessary, as did you. Don't blame yourself."

Harry felt part of the heavy burden upon him start to lift and was grateful for that. He knew at that moment what it truly meant to be forgiven. If someone could make him feel better, that was Remus. While Dumbledore had taken some of the responsibility onto himself at the end of the summer, his words did not have the same effect as those from Remus, who had now lost all his close friends to the evil deeds of Voldemort. Harry just stared at him and then hugged him with all his might.

"It's OK. Don't worry; we will talk more about this. I am, you realize, now your guardian. Sirius left a will asking me to take on this role should anything happen to him. I daresay you will hear more on the subject from Albus, but for now just know that I don't blame you in the least and I am proud of you, as would be Sirius and your parents."

"Thank you Prof… Remus," said Harry fighting the quiver in his voice as he called Lupin by his first name for the first time. _Never again_, he thought. _I will train as hard as possible and I will take you down, Voldemort. _No one else should suffer so.

It was at that moment that Tonks reappeared in his room holding an old issue of the Daily Prophet. Harry grabbed on to his possessions and placed a finger on the paper. A few seconds later, he felt the familiar hook behind his navel and Remus and Tonks bumping against him. In a swirl of colour, they landed in Dumbledore's office.


	2. Chapter 2 Uncontrolled

Harry Potter and the Mage Powers

Chapter 2 – Uncontrolled

"_It must be done… I cannot risk its corruption!"_

Harry steadied himself as he made a somewhat wobbly landing in Dumbledore's office. Everything looked the same and the objects he remembered smashing were there in perfect condition. _Dumbledore must have fixed them. I hope he wasn't very angry… _pondered Harry. With slight swishy movements from her wand, Tonks disposed of the old Prophet while Remus knocked on the door to Dumbledore's private chambers, behind his desk. Seconds later, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry entered the office with his pet phoenix Fawkes perched on his shoulder.

Albus Dumbledore had always radiated a certain aura of benign power that made people trust him and look up to him. He rarely used the aura to intimidate people (except for Dark wizards and inept Ministry officials, Harry remembered) and his affable nature was one of the reasons he was so loved by the people of the wizard world. It was also why Harry had looked up to the man ever since meeting him during the first year school feast.

"Ah! Harry, Remus, Tonks. Glad to see you all made it here without much delay. Now Harry," said Dumbledore, turning to peer at him over the rim of his half moon spectacles, "Tonks was telling me that you apparently slept for more than a whole day, nearly two in fact, and that you have no recollection of anything from these two nights. Is that right?"

"Yes, sir," answered Harry. "I didn't even have dreams or anything during that time and my uncle said there were strange pulses of light coming from my room."

"Were you angry prior going to sleep that night?" Dumbledore asked.

"No sir. I was calm… A little depressed actually, about… Sirius," replied Harry with a very slight quiver to his words.

"Mmm, do you by any chance remember a feeling of heat when waking up?"

"I didn't stop to think about it, sir. But now that you mention it, I was sweating slightly and felt a tad queasy. Do you understand any of this?"

"Alas, Harry, I only have a theory at this point. I believe Tonks is right with her assessment."

"What assessment is that?" asked Remus with genuine concern for Harry.

"It is Tonks' belief and mine that Harry might be starting something highly unusual. Actually, I believe there are only two wizards alive to have experienced it, and I am one of them. Also there are only 11 cases known in all recorded Magical History. It is something referred to as Evolutio Veneficii," said Dumbledore with a rare twinkle in his eyes.

"Vene… what?" said Harry perplexedly.

"Evolutio Veneficii," it was Remus who answered. "But - that's not possible! Only you and Voldemort have… And Harry's just… But that would mean…"

Harry looked at his former professor, even more confused by his statements. _Why is Tonks looking at me like that? And why is Remus surprised? _

"Yes. Don't say any more, Remus. If you two would leave Harry and me alone for a couple of hours, we have much to discuss."

"Certainly, Albus. Tonks and I will wait in the Great Hall," replied Remus.

At this, Tonks levitated Harry's trunk while Remus gathered the Firebolt and Hedwig's cage, and they exited the office.

Harry just stared at the old man in front of him, wondering what in the world they were talking about. Dumbledore turned in the meantime to one of his book cases and retrieved two books: one old, mouldy volume and another rather new one. He then carried the books to his desk and invited Harry to take a seat as he did the same. Fawkes flew to his perch and proceeded to gaze curiously at both wizards.

"Harry, I believe these books will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of Evolutio Veneficii, but I will tell you some things about it first. Evolutio Veneficii means, roughly translated, Magic Evolution," said Dumbledore while looking at Harry.

"Magic Evolution?" asked Harry uncertainly. "What does that mean?"

"Ah, to explain that, Harry, I will have to ask you to bear with me while I tell you some of the History of Magic that is not taught by Professor Binns. The origins of Magic are very obscure, since the first signs of wizards predate written history. However, it is believed that there is a certain source of Magic that we all use. Some call this force Mana, others Pure Magic, and it has many other names I won't bother you with. I always have been partial to one of its most obscure names: Mágica."

"Mágica? Where does that come from, sir?"

"Mágica was the name given by the first Portuguese wizard that dedicated his life to recording all known information on Magic and its origins. His name was Pedro Nunes, and he is known to the Muggle world as one of the top mathematicians of his time. He lived during the 16th century, and was a wizard who made important discoveries in arithmancy and ancient runes and began to unravel the mysteries of magical power."

Harry sat down, listening attentively to Dumbledore's words.

"While many other wizards had begun this research, none advanced as swiftly as Nunes. In his work, he claimed that a certain glow could be seen, through special lenses of his design, around all magical beings. Muggles call this a person's aura, but the truth is that while all creatures have auras, those of magical beings contain one colour the rest do not: gold."

"So a gold colour indicates magical power?" asked Harry.

"Yes, indeed."

"But sir, couldn't this be used to detect magical people in the entire world and be used as a security measure? It would help to pinpoint magical people in the world and avoid accidental magic by the young ones."

"Sometimes. You see, Harry, many powerful magical beings can disguise this aura to make it look as if it's no more than a shimmer and hide effectively their real power."

"So it wouldn't work as a security measure…" said Harry.

"Exactly. While this work later led to the wards which the Ministry and other organizations use to detect the use of magic, it is not fool proof."

"How so?"

"You have experienced this yourself. When Dobby used the Hover Charm at your house during your second year, the ministry was able to detect the use of magic, but not pinpoint the issuer of the spell. This led to them blaming you, since you were believed to be the only magical being at your place of residence."

Harry remembered that incident well enough. The wonderful dessert prepared by his Aunt Petunia to impress her husband's boss had come crashing down on said boss's wife's head. He nearly had not been able to return to Hogwarts because his Uncle had found out through the Ministry owl that Harry could not use Magic outside of school…

"Sorry sir, but I just don't see what this has to do with the Evolution thing."

"Ah! You see, Harry; many other wizards continued this research and it was proven that a certain substance within our magical bodies gives off that golden hue that represents our power," said Dumbledore with excitement in his voice. "It was discovered also that this hue was not stable but changing constantly through age. Much later, it was found that this change was visible but that it was nearly always a minimal change."

"So the change was small?"

"Yes, in terms of power. Even when there were changes in the hue, the actual power of the person changed very little. Except in very rare cases."

"How rare?"

"Historically, since the discovery of the changes, there have only been four people to have undergone extreme changes to convert them into extremely powerful wizards. These changes were huge in terms of both the glow emitted by the wizard and the power they wielded. Many more are suspected to have undergone these changes before it was known and could be proved, but of those only 7 have been generally accepted. This process, by the way, was named Evolutio Veneficii. All these wizards you know to a certain degree: Nicholas Flamel, Kriemhild von Grindelwald, Tom Riddle and of course, myself."_ No wonder Dumbledore had such an aura of raw power that it felt like heat when roused against Dark Wizards._

Harry remained speechless at this revelation. _Dumbledore, Voldemort, Grindelwald and Flamel? They were all known for their extraordinary magical talent! _

"However, I am beginning to think there will be another one to undergo the change soon: you, Harry."

"What do you mean, me? I'm just Harry; I am not nearly as powerful as you are, sir!"

"That may be so, Harry. At least right now. But the symptoms you describe are very similar to mine and Tom's shortly before Wizard Transformation, as Evolutio Veneficii is sometimes called. However, the fact that you actually gave enough light that your relatives noticed is astounding. Tom issued enough light so that it was barely noticeable to the naked eye. The light I issued was slightly brighter than Tom's, but it wasn't enough to light a dark room to the point where people in the house would notice a bright light coming from under the door's frame."

"And this light…"

"Is the magical manifestation of the Mágica inside us all, right before it creates a big change in our being," finished Dumbledore for Harry.

Harry's mind was reeling. Wizard Transformations, incredible powers and above all the possibility of him being stronger magically than Dumbledore was an astounding thought. _Could this be the "power he knows not"? But Dumbledore said Voldemort had also undergone the transformation, so he at least had some of this power and certainly knew about it. _

"Harry, I am afraid I will have to ask you to stay here at headquarters for the next couple of weeks. If the transformation is to happen you will be unconscious for most of it and you will need to be under constant supervision. I will ask Madam Pomfrey to come here for this…"

"What? No! I don't want to have people fussing over me! I'm fine; all I felt this morning was a little sweat, nothing more!"

"I am afraid you have no choice, Harry. It is very probable you will be asleep most of the time, as Tom and I were. It is not a very pleasant experience, I warn you. I was unconscious for four days and Tom for three. I expect you will go on at least as long as I did. Madam Pomfrey will need to be here. After that you will probably spend a couple of days more in bed, you know how Poppy can get when she deals with patients… These books will allow you to spend that time occupied. The first one is a tome Flamel wrote upon going through the change and contains the information he learnt from Nunes and others that worked on the issue of Evolutio Veneficii. It will tell you some of the basic information. The second one," said Dumbledore as he grabbed the book between his hands with care and a look evoking love, "is a volume I wrote when I went through Wizard Transformation."

Harry took both manuscripts with care, awed at the tomes he held, knowing Hermione would gladly give anything to get her hands on them.

"I must ask, Harry, that you tell no one of these books. Nicholas and I wrote them specifically for other wizards who underwent Evolutio Veneficii. It is not work that anyone should read otherwise. When you are done with them please bring them back to me. It would not be wise for the specific process one goes through when dealing with Evolutio Veneficii to be known. The wrong people could try to induce those changes, and suffice it to say that all who have tried to force this process have ended up harming themselves beyond magical healing."

"Yes, sir." While the prospect of remaining in bed for six days was not appealing in the least, he felt better at having something to do if he was awake.

Cradling the books against his chest, Harry made his way to Gryffindor Tower. He had been informed by Dumbledore that during the summer no passwords were required to enter the dormitories. Harry very much doubted he was about to go through any magical change, much less something that could rival Dumbledore's powers. But if it happened to be true…

Upon arriving at the portrait that concealed the entry to Gryffindor Tower, Harry saw the Fat Lady swing wordlessly forward and he entered the common room. The fire was already lit in the grate, so Harry decided to plop on the couch in front of it. He did not want to start reading yet. Instead he just sat there staring at the flames. He was considerably surprised then when Remus made his way down the stairs of the boys' dormitories.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Remus, sitting beside him on the couch.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"I understand it all can be rather overwhelming, but if this really happens to you it would be a tremendous help to your fight against Voldemort."

"I know, Remus, but why can't I just be normal for a change? I'm sick of things always revolving around me!"

"I can't say I understand, Harry. However, I think it will be good for you in the long run. And I am sure your friends won't mind and will still will treat you as always."

"If you say so… And I know Ron and the others won't treat me any differently."

Remus sighed. "Well Harry, I must be leaving now. However, I will be around if you need anything. Just send Hedwig my way and I will come as soon as I can."

"Remus, before you leave, how did Tonks know about Evolutio Veneficii?"

"Oh! I believe Tonks based her final research project at Auror Academy about it and used Dumbledore as the example. She thus become familiar with it."

"So that's why. Well, see you around, Remus. And thanks again for everything."

"It was my pleasure, Harry. Get some rest, you'll need it.

As Remus left the room, Harry returned to his previous thoughts.

_I don't want to be special anymore. But if it helps defeat you, Voldemort, I will do everything in my power. I WILL defeat you. I will avenge Sirius' and my parents' death. _

With these thoughts, Harry made his way up to his dormitory. On the door, the sign had not yet been changed and still read Fifth Years. Once inside, he found his trunk already at the foot of the bed he had chosen back in first year. He started unpacking, storing all his clothes in their proper places and leaving inside his trunk only his school supplies.

The Gryffindor dormitory looked as inviting as ever, but even so Harry didn't find it as warm. He missed his friends and being here alone reminded him even more of the burden he alone carried, to rid the world of the menace Lord Voldemort represented.

As he started to remove his clothes and get ready for bed he heard tapping on one of the dorm windows. He turned and saw Hedwig perched on the sill. Harry moved to the window and cracked it open so Hedwig could come in. A gust of the night's cold air made its way inside as well.

Hedwig flew over to Harry's nightstand and stood with her leg sticking out and a letter attached to it.

_Of course! I forgot to read the letter!_ Harry removed it from Hedwig's leg and opened the envelope, which bore a strange seal of a galleon on it.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We regret to inform you that on the morning of July 13th, the reading of the late Sirius Black's will is to take place. Being one of the beneficiaries, we require your presence at Gringotts Bank. Please be at Gringotts' Branch in Diagon Alley at 9 o'clock promptly on the aforementioned date. Please receive our most deep condolences for your loss, _

_Sincerely,_

_Geargick T. Penderbill _

_Head of the Claims and Inheritances Department_

_Gringotts Bank _

Harry stood momentarily speechless. _Sirius' will…_ He hadn't thought Sirius had a will. As he reread the letter, he could feel the horrible weight of guilt start to settle once more on his shoulders. He did not want to get money from an event he had caused. However, he wanted to attend, wanting to get any personal item that could have been left by his godfather. Something more to keep from his godfather besides the Firebolt. With a sigh, Harry placed the letter on his trunk and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote a letter to Remus, informing him of the reading and asking his advice on how he should proceed. He also grabbed some owl treats after finishing the letter and gave them to Hedwig.

"Hedwig, thanks for keeping this letter for me. I need you to deliver this to Remus as soon as possible. I know it's late, girl, but he should know about the will. Can you do this for me?" Harry asked his owl while absentmindedly petting her head.

Hedwig, in response to this, cocked her head to the side and stuck her leg out with a look that seemed to say "_When have I not delivered a letter?". _

"Thanks," said Harry as he tied the letter to her leg. With a couple of powerful beats of her wings, Hedwig was out the window and off into the night.

Harry finished putting on his pyjamas and plopped onto the bed. As he took his glasses off and closed the draping around his bed, he thought of the enormous overload of information he had received that day. It was no wonder that it took quite some time for Harry to fall into a deep sleep.


End file.
